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An NBA Transfer of Power? West to East Big Time

The Detroit Pistons of the 2000’s to the contrary, consensus is that the recent NBA has had a preponderance of talented teams in its Western divisions. Dallas, Utah, the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio and Phoenix have been annual finals favorites. Despite the presence of backcourt stars such as Washington’s Gilbert Arenas, Cleveland’s LeBron James, and the eight shooting guards on the New York Knicks’ roster, the East has been, by far the least. Sports journalists even suggested that Commissioner David Stern shake up the teams a bit to redistribute the strength. “The Western Finals are the NBA Finals,” some complained. It seemed a shame that the likes of Phoenix and San Antonio had to meet so early in the postseason. How times have changed.

 The Suns will certainly not be the same without Coach Mike D’Antoni at the helm, and Shawn Marion to finish Steve Nash’s fast breaks. Marion now bolsters the frontcourt of the Miami Heat. If Jason Williams can finally be taught the advantage of keeping his dribble alive in the paint until the defense commits, the Heat could become one of basketball’s more balanced offenses. Just as importantly, they are now athletic on defense. Marion, Udonis Haslem, and rookie manchild Michael Beasley shore up the Shaqless South Floridians, and emerging talent Daequan Cook aids Dwyane Wade from the wings.

Miami’s renovation couldn’t come at a better time. The Sixers are deeper up with the addition of Elton Brand.  His presence will free up Samuel Delambert and Andre Iguadala to do what they do best- slash and defend. The Cavs are strong inside with Ben Wallace, Anderson Varejao, and Kansas rookies Sasha Kaun and Darnell Jackson- though Kaun may play in Russia. And there is that Dwight Howard-Rashard Lewis combo over in Orlando. And what if Drew Gooden, Tyrus Thomas, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah ever get it going at the same time in Chicago? Scary. So is a big who has now tasted glory- Boston’s Kevin Garnett. We’ve seen what his understudies- Leon Powe and Glen “Big Baby” Davis are capable of. Garnett’s team leadership is never more evident than when he roots them on (much as LeBron does the Cavs’ second unit).

On paper, the Charlotte Bobcats would have Emeka Okafur, Sean May, Gerald Wallace, and Nazr Mohammed as interior threats- with scoring wings Adam Morrison (6′8″), and Jason Richardson. The problem is, May seems to be made of paper, as sometimes does the recently re-signed Okafur. An interesting experiment for the nomadic Coach Larry Brown.

Whatever else one thinks of the Milwaukee Bucks, they’ve got Andrew Bogut and his 14 points a game and nine rebounds. They also have 6′11″ Charlie Villanueva, high flyers Desmond Mason and Richard Jefferson, Olympic sharpshooter Michael Redd, and 6′8″ rookie Joe Alexander from West Virginia. Beertown fans will also admire the hustle of hardnosed 6′8″ UCLA rookie Luc Mbah a Moute. Nothing like a feisty prince to fire up a young team. As NBA power seems to be shifting eastward, superior frontcourt play is tantamount. Bring on Yao Ming, Shaq and Tim Duncan- taking the title back West is going to be a tall order.

BCB

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 at 5:16 pm and is filed under NBA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.